Jewelry

The Challenge of Creating Responsible Jewelry - Forbes

While the concept of producing environmentally and responsible jewelry is hardly new, it seems to be hitting mainstream channels with greater frequency. If you follow jewelry issues, brands, or products online, you are likely to see headlines like:

• 12 Sustainable Jewelry Brands to Buy
• 10 Top Sustainable Jewelry Designers
• 5 Reasons I Only Buy Sustainable Jewelry

While it’s certainly gratifying to see ethical, responsible jewelry production getting attention, this exposure comes with a cautionary note.

It is extremely challenging to create sustainable jewelry.

The Challenges Begin With the Raw Materials

Fine jewelry is made with at least one product – a precious metal – that started out in the ground. It is also likely produced with precious gemstones or diamonds, which also started out in the ground. Does this mean that jewelry cannot ever be sustainable? Of course not, but it does take more effort than one might expect.

The most basic aspect of ethical production, supply chain transparency, is one of the most difficult to achieve. Why? Because most metals and minerals come out of the poorest regions on earth, and pass through multiple hands on their way to market, most without any traceability.

Is the solution to stop using mined materials to make jewelry? Not according to Christina Villegas of the international development non-profit Pact. At the 2017 Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference, she pointed out to attendees that artisanal mining feeds millions of families that might not eat otherwise. Consider this statistic: In 2017, the World Bank estimated that at least 100 million people – workers and families— worldwide are involved in artisanal mining, the types of mines often producing precious metals and gemstones.  So the goal is to help them mine safely,  and make sure that enough mining revenue remains with them so they can invest in the clean water, schools, and other services their families and communities need.

But the challenge of tracing those materials remains. IBM has introduced blockchain technology to verify the jewelry supply chain, and DeBeers is using blockchain to trace the diamond supply. Both exciting developments, but still very much in the early stages. Precious metals and gems supplier Hoover and Strong has focused on introducing Fairmined gold and silver, which offers both traceability and positive social impact.

For consumers who can’t get past the environmental impact of mining, recycled gold and gems may have more appeal. Hoover and Strong is most visible in the US market with their Harmony Metals offering, but refiners around the world have jumped on the recycling bandwagon. Lab grown diamonds and colored gemstones also offer an attractive alternative for consumers who seek the beauty of gemstones, but can’t tolerate the idea of mining.

And those are just the challenges related to ethically producing metals and minerals.

Challenges Beyond the Mining

One aspect of jewelry production most consumers don’t consider is gem-cutting (sometimes referred to as polishing). Gem cutting produces microscopic dust damaging to the lungs. Laborers in gem cutting facilities often work without proper ventilation or safety gear. How is a consumer to know if the person who cut their gemstone worked in one of those facilities, or in a safe gem cutting facility? There are currently dozens of efforts around the world to create gem cutting education and improve gem cutting facilities. If social impact is important to you, be sure to ask your jeweler where they purchased their gems, and if they know where those gems were cut.  Gem dealers are increasingly focusing on social impact, and organizations like Columbia Gem House are actively funding gem cutting education in the field and offering Fair Mined Gems.

Even once you get past the raw materials aspect of producing jewelry, jewelry production often uses harsh chemicals and can produce toxic waste. One of ethical jewelry’s early voices, Christine Dhein, published a newsletter called Green Jewelry News in 2008 – 2011, in which she shared responsible alternatives to traditional jewelry production techniques and chemicals. Jewelers around the world continue to innovate jewelry production techniques, pay carbon offsets, and recycle everything that can be recycled.

Imagine being a jewelry manufacturer, jumping through all these hoops just to produce a product that has reduced social and environmental impact. How do they do it?

Jewelry manufacturers are a creative lot, and most of them bring tremendous innovation to the effort. They are assisted by organizations like Ethical Metalsmiths, conferences like the Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference, and standards organizations like the Responsible Jewellery Council; all dedicated to providing education, resources, and support to jewelry industry producers who want to improve their social and environmental impact.

Which brings us back to the word sustainable. When you see the word sustainable used in conjunction with jewelry, be curious. Ask questions. To achieve true sustainability in jewelry production requires a level of activism and sourcing that most jewelry producers can’t afford. For most concerned jewelers, this process is a journey. They refer to themselves as ethical, or responsible jewelers; rarely sustainable. They try to raise the bar every day on their practices, constantly seeking new sources and new methods to improve the lives of others while protecting the planet.

For some consumers, fine jewelry may not ever be an option, due to the environment and social risks involved in producing it.

But jewelry is more than just beautiful - it can also do good in the world.

For consumers who are comfortable with a bit of gray mixed with their black and white, who do the work of finding jewelry made by companies that make an effort to make a difference, there’s more than the joy of wearing a beautiful thing. There’s the joy of finding and wearing a beautiful thing that fed a family, educated a child, or supported an artist. It isn’t easy, but more and more jewelry companies are doing the work of creating ethical, responsible jewelry. And as long as consumers continue to ask for it, responsible jewelry options will continue to grow.